Enzo Maresca questioned Wilfredo Ndidi’s optimism about his injuries, hinting that his return may not be as quick as the Nigerian hopes.
The Leicester City midfielder made a surprising statement on Monday night, telling Sky Sports that he would be playing again in a few weeks, despite having surgery just a fortnight ago. A return in early February would be well ahead of the original plan outlined by Maresca, who suggested Ndidi might be out until early April.
In response to Ndidi’s comment, Maresca downplayed the optimistic news, expressing doubt about Ndidi’s availability in the short term. Asked about Ndidi’s “few weeks” timeframe, the City boss replied, “Ndidi is in a few weeks at the moment, hopefully! But I don’t think so. Hopefully, he can be back in two weeks, but I don’t think so.”
Ndidi was one of five senior players absent for City during Monday’s draw with Ipswich, including Abdul Fatawu, who served his first three-match suspension for a red card at Coventry. The ban also applies to FA Cup matches, making this weekend’s fourth-round match against Birmingham count as three games.
The other three missing players are on international duty, with Harry Souttar and Kelechi Iheanacho remaining for the time being. Both Australia and Nigeria, at the Asian Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations respectively, qualified from the group stage and will play in the Round of 16 this weekend. Iheanacho has not yet made the Nigeria bench due to his late arrival at the tournament caused by injury.
Patson Daka still has work to do. Zambia drew their first two matches of the tournament, but in their last match against Tanzania, the City striker scored the equaliser in the 88th minute, meaning they need to score in their last match. A draw with Morocco on Wednesday night would be enough for Zambia to qualify as at least one of the best third-placed teams.
However, if they lose, they are out, and Daka will return home. It might be too much to expect him to be back in England and ready for Saturday’s game against Birmingham, although he would likely be ready when they host Swansea in the Championship next week.